Nicole Havrda is a Canadian Czech racing driver who this year is racing under the banner of American Express in her rookie F1 Academy Season. Hailing from Courtenay in British Columbia, Nicole has been plucked from one of the furthest reaches to enter the world of motorsport. So while she currently sits in P16 in the Championship with only a single point to her name, it would be unfair to presume to know all one needs to about her and her season so far from this. With a few years of racing under her belt already, there’s more to Havrda than meets the eye.
Indian Racing League
In 2022, the Canadian made her single seater debut in the Indian Racing League. She finished in P6 overall in the Championship with 65 points to her name. Here, her results were good enough for her to be ahead of former F1 Academy drivers such as Bianca Bustamante and Lola Lovinfosse by the end of the year. While she didn’t finish on the podium in that season, Nicole finished ahead of many drivers that did multiple times. Her consistency from the start was the key to her success. That single campaign was enough to warrant Lovinfosse a seat on the F1 Academy grid for 2023, she was lucky enough to test with W Series too, but unfortunately, that wasn’t also the case for Nicole. Hadvra would have to wait a little longer for this reality to materialise.
Reinforcing Racing Foundations
Over the next two years, Nicole competed in series such as the Formula Pro USA Winter Series, the Formula Regional Americas Championship. She also competed again in the Indian Racing League.
She claimed two Championships in this period. The first came in the Formula Pro USA Winter Series. The second was in the Formula Pro USA Western Championship where she won all but three races. This proved to be enough to gain the attention of F1 Academy. In 2025, she was signed to race for Hitech TGR and supported by American Express.
Nicole Havrda’s F1 Academy Debut
F1 Academy was always going to be an uphill battle for the Canadian Czech racer. With the amount of travel, acclimatisation, and media commitments alone, it can be enough to challenge a driver over the course of a race week—and that’s before you even get into the car.
For the first round of the 2025 Season in Shanghai, Nicole qualified in a respectable P12. Unfortunately for her, through no fault of her own, that would be the highpoint of her debut weekend.
“The start of the year wasn’t really the greatest, but especially like not having any kind of driving in Formula 4 cars from the start, like going from a Formula Regional car to a Formula 4 car, it’s been kind of challenging, especially since it’s such a different driving style. But yeah, I’m just trying to get as much seat time as possible…and just basically learning about everything, as well as, you know, trying to perform, but also, give a lot of feedback of the car, and all that kind of stuff, so yeah, it’s been a lot for the start of the year, trying to keep pushing for the other half of the year, and trying to get some good results.” – Nicole Havrda
In the first race, Chloe Chong wasn’t able to find any grip in her cold tyres and promptly crashed into the rear of Havrda’s car. While Chong got a ten-second penalty for this, it did little to salvage Nicole’s ruined race. The same bad luck, remarkably again involving Chong, would rear its head again in the second race. Taking evasive action from a separate incident, Joanne Ciconte was clipped from behind by Chong. As Ciconte spun across T8, both Aurelia Nobels and Nicole Havrda were left with nowhere to go and crashed out of the race.
Just like that, her opening weekend in F1 Academy was over and had started with a bang – or rather a couple of them at the hands of her fellow driver’s racing incidents.
The Rest of the Season So Far
Since then, Nicole’s season has been less dramatic. She qualified in P15 in Jeddah, finishing in P15 and P16 respectively. It may not have resulted in getting points on the board, but she was able to complete a full weekend cleanly and gain valuable experience in the car.
In Miami, Havdra did well to avoid another DNF when she got caught up in a three-way battle with Ciconte and Chong. Tagged from behind again by Chong at T11, both Ciconte and Chong had to retire from the race. Havrda, though, managed to avoid this and drove to the end to finish in P12.
Nicole Havdra’s Canadian Weekend
“I’ve never actually driven here, which is quite surprising, because we don’t have many tracks in Canada, but yeah I’m super excited to be here, and especially having a custom helmet as well for my home race is pretty cool.” – Nicole Havrda
With three races being held over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, there were a lot of opportunities on the table for Havrda on home soil. Funnily enough, it would be the first time for her racing in Montreal. Havrda herself was looking forward to competing in here, even if it was still quite far from her home on the opposite side of the country.
“Yes, being my home race, I’m obviously very, very excited. Obviously, I live on the other side of Canada, so it’s a bit far to call it a home race, but I’m just super happy to be here and excited for the race weekend, especially with all the fans. I remember, you know, watching Formula One here and doing a track walk today and seeing a little bit of the Grandstand where I was actually sitting a while back and I was going through that kind of surreal moment.” – Nicole Havrda
Qualifying didn’t go to plan for Nicole, as she ended up down in P18. Race 1 was a chaotic affair for all involved, with drama up and down the field. Nicole was able to take advantage of all of this, though. By staying out of trouble, by the time the chequered flag was waved, she found herself in P10. Just like that, she’d scored her first championship point of the season—and it was at home.
“I’m honestly just excited to race. The more track time, the better, and especially at a home track, it’s super cool to have three races and to be able to, you know, show what I’m capable of and just go racing.” – Nicole Havrda
Towards the end of the second race of the weekend however, things began to unravel for the Canadian. Attempting an overtake on Aiva Anagnostiadis into T10, Havrda misjudged the distance between the two cars and drove into the rear end of the Australian driver before promptly retiring from the race.
The third and final race of the weekend showed promise for Nicole Havrda though. Starting from the back of the pack once again, she was able to navigate her way up through the field. Avoiding the frequent occurrences of drama ahead of her, survival alone was enough. The race ended under the Safety Car, and Nicole crossed the line in P11—just one place shy of a points-paying position.
Looking Forward
There are three rounds left to go in F1 Academy in 2025—Zandvoort, Singapore, and Las Vegas. The long gaps between races can make it challenging to carry the momentum forward, and each weekend surely feels like a bit of a reset for the drivers. Nicole isn’t the only rookie struggling this year. Crone, Anagnostiadis, Ciconte, and even Ferreira are all having a difficult time of it too.
Zandvoort can throw up interesting conditions that present unique opportunities. Singapore gave us good racing last year and demonstrated that a bad qualifying session won’t ruin your weekend. Las Vegas will be an equaliser, as none of the grid have raced there. All of this should be reassuring for a driver like Havrda. In motorsport, it’s never over until it’s over.
Putting Canada on the Map
As a Canadian Czech racer who’s raced in Regional Formula 3 Regional, the Indian Racing League and now F1 Academy, Nicole is another driver that can easily take advantage of the wave of obsession that North America is having with motorsport. She also falls into a bit of a niche category as a Canadian, as there aren’t as many of them around in mainstream motorsport as perhaps there should be. Slate Racing, for example, have done a brilliant job in North America of highlighting Canadian women on and off track in endurance racing. But in the world of single seaters, aside from Nicole, there aren’t all that many examples – and this could work to her advantage in obtaining what she needs to continue succeeding and paving the way for others.
Nicole Havrda has shown potential this season and if the racing Gods can give her a bit of good luck too, then that potential can be further realised in the remainder of the season. The ingredients are all there for the Canadian. Now she just has to cook.
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F1 Academy returns from August 29th to August 31st at Zandvoort.
Feature Image Credit: Nicole Havrda